Palm Sunday, April 13: We went with Sister Gisele Harb, Prioress General of the Rosary Congregation for a tour. Sr. Gisele was especially happy to welcome Margaret as International Coordinator of DSI. While visiting the grotto and church of Gethsemane, Margaret offered prayers for the betrayed and abandoned. Later, while enjoying dinner at their Genera late at Beit Hanina, a former Mother General, who is going to be 89 in three months, related the story of their connections to the Dominicans. It seems they wanted to be linked to the Order from the beginning, but the then-Patriarch was hesitant. She said that they waited "until we were strong enough to do things by ourselves." In characteristic Arabic style, gifts were exchanged.

After resting, we went to the American military defense base for NBC (nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons), where fr. Don celebrated Sunday evening liturgy with about 35 military personnel. Though we were both hesitant to go, it was liberating when Joao recalled Montesino's question: "are these not human beings too?" in regard to the Iraqis as well as to the Palestinians and the U.S military. The group was friendly and welcoming. Margaret, who comes from Brooklyn, New York, realized that these soldiers could be her nieces and nephews. We learned that the wife of one of the military made rosaries for the soldiers. We could see that we had a similar background of Catholic upbringing -many prayers, songs in common -, but had taken different roads. Listening to the Gospel in this military context was powerful: we heard how the people chose to condemn Jesus to death "because the authorities manipulated them". We also heard Jesus applauding the woman who "did what she could do." Fr. Don's preaching was extremely unassuming, but full of conviction, mentioning the International Solidarity Movement (ISM) with its martyrs. He even dared to give the military a mission to reduce violence and to build peace. The General in charge approached Margaret and told her that they were a defensive unit and invited us to see the operation. Major Lynch from Brooklyn, NY gave us a tour, where we heard about the operations of 'the enemy.' Joao asked about the situation in Moussul and Baghdad. We then mentioned that we have sisters and brothers there.

Monday of Holy Week, April 14: We met with Michel Sabbah, Latin Patriarch, at his office. We introduced ourselves, bringing greetings from Santa Sabina and DSI. It was obvious that the Patriarch feels supported by the Order, and appreciated the Master's visit earlier this year. He said that he was also grateful to the University of Fribourg for the honorary degree. He said that he knows that these titles are worthless but they serve to "stir up the waters" thereby giving a platform for the cause. Sabbah impressed us as a man who has suffered much. All of his comments were linked to the suffering of the people, to which he referred often, e.g., why didn't Saddam give up to save his people, and make a decent transition? He commented that the widespread opposition to the war by the "Western world" , especially that of the Pope, has saved his people, the Palestinian Christians, for the time being, but he is afraid that these strong messages will disappear. Joao shared information about the three sisters in prison in the States (1), and Sabbah wanted more information; he sensed the value of this witness, and how important it is for his people to hear such things. He said, "this is what I tell my people, that there are good people everywhere. We need to pray that God hears us, because he is not hearing us now." We gave him a copy of Angelico's Annunciation from Cortona; he really liked it because it happened in Nazareth, his birthplace. He then presented gifts to Margaret, Joao, and Don.

Then we went to Bethlehem to meet with one of the contact persons for the "rosary project" (PSRP), Edmund Shehadeh of Bethlehem Arab Society for Rehabilitation (BASR). He gave us the history and philosophy of the place, emphasizing its holistic approach, with approximately fifty percent handicapped people and Arab ex-political prisoners on the staff. High standards of care are maintained, with great attention to the individual person. On our tour, we saw many young men crippled because of the Intifada. Mr Shehadeh also showed us a sack of bullets which he collected from this hospital during the siege of Bethlehem Then we visited the handicapped cooperative craft shop, organized and administered by a woman who is herself handicapped, and has been in this institution since she was ten years old. When the staff discovered that Margaret and Joao were responsible for the "rosary project", they expressed their gratitude, repeating how important this project has been for the dignity of the people.

Don's low profile was evident throughout the day. He introduced us to his friends, whom he says he met "by chance," even by accident. (We call this Providence!) He has a deep love for the Palestinian people and is moved by solidarity. He is their friend. He knows their suffering, is attuned to it, and marvels at their patience and endurance.

Tuesday of Holy Week, April 15: We attended Mass at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and Calvary. After breakfast, we started out for Bethlehem. We had to wait for over twenty minutes at the checkpoint. The question of checkpoints is indeed significant for life in Palestine. The distance between Jerusalem and Bethlehem is about twenty miles, but it can take up to two hours to travel this short distance. The waiting is frustrating and upsetting. Sometimes the soldiers are just standing around talking, and everyone waits in silence. No one beeps, no one budges. No one can plan, because waiting can take from five minutes or two hours. And we were told that this is one of the easiest checkpoints and that we had it easy because we were foreigners. The Palestinians have it much harder. For some in Bethlehem they have not been allowed to visit Jerusalem in over three years.

We visited Bethlehem University with Brother Cyril Lucky, the Assistant Principal. Cyril talked about the experience of the siege by the Israeli army at Bethlehem University -- how one building, completed in December, sustained $500,000 damage three months later -- and they had to pay for it. Next, Cyril took us to an exhibit on the Siege of Bethlehem, sponsored by the youth of the Fatah party. The photos, taken by a local photographer, captured the horror and pain of this forty-day experience. It moved us to tears and anger as we asked, "how did the Israeli government get away with this?"

Don arranged for his Palestinian Muslim friend, Samah Jabr, to meet us at the University. She is preparing to go to France to complete her psychiatric residency. It was moving to watch her look at the exhibit. Samah appears weak and delicate, yet she is strong, articulate, and worth listening to. She gently led us into the horrors of what it means for her to be a Palestinian woman doctor, living in Jerusalem, working in a Palestinian hospital under the Palestinian Authority. This means she earns less and has to face the checkpoint trauma twice daily. She publishes articles twice a week about Palestinian life.

We went then to the School of Joy, run by a Melkite Catholic priest. This is a school for mentally handicapped students who make olive wood souvenirs. The priest told us how significant it is for these student-artisans to see that their work is appreciated outside of Palestine.

Next, we visited the Iraqi sisters living in Bethlehem. They were happy because they recently heard news from home: Sr. Marie Therese, after being interviewed by an Italian journalist in Moussul, asked to use his cell phone to call the Sisters in Amman, Jordan; likewise, after a Spanish journalist interviewed the Presentation Sisters in Baghdad, they used his cell phone to call out to Rome. The superior of this convent in Bethlehem, Sister Marleine Marzouka, is Palestinian, and the only non-Iraqi Sister in her congregation. We learned that another one of our "rosary project" contacts, Victor Tabash, had loaned one of his houses to these Sisters for over eleven years, free of cost. The Sisters were very welcoming and appreciative of our gift from Santa Sabina. They gave us a gift of rosaries!!

Afterwards, we visited Manger Square and the Church of the Nativity. In contrast to Margaret's last visit, these places were empty. We were the only ones at the site of the nativity.

Wednesday of Holy Week, April 16: At 6AM, we drove to Ein Karim to meet sr. Susan Sheehan, who is a member of the St. Vincent de Paul Congregation and goes to Gaza every two weeks. In order to do this, she must drive a diplomatic car and restrict her donations to three cartons. She is not free to take other things into Gaza, which is desperately poor with eighty percent of the population receiving food supplies from the UN and NGO's. We went to a nursery school in one of the poorest areas where we met the founder, a Palestinian Muslim woman. She talked about the plight of her people, and their needs. We were in utter admiration of her steadfastness and that of her teachers. They are doing all that they can for their people in the face of overwhelming obstacles.

Next, we went to the Missionaries of Charity, who also have a nursery school, a hospice for severely handicapped children, and a home for the elderly. We then went to the Catholic Relief Service (CRS) office in Gaza. This organization is very large and is involved in huge projects, such as road construction. Yet they find time to assist Susan with her small projects, such as distributing educational supplies. We spoke with Sabah, the Muslim woman director. She gave us a critical analysis of the situation in Gaza. She noted that CRS builds roads with U.S. AID; the roads are then destroyed by Israeli Apaches that are even funded by the U.S. Then, the CRS goes back to the U.S. for money to rebuild the same roads. She impressed us with her statement that, although the Palestinians need peace to survive, the Israeli government does not. She emphasized the importance of Muslim women who are salvaging this impossible situation by organizing committees, alternative enterprises, etc. We also spoke to Omar Shaban Ismail, the director of CRS, who shared with us the anguish of being the father of a five-year-old who sees violence everywhere, never experiencing the joy of being a carefree child.

Next we went to the Rosary Convent in Gaza for Mass, celebrated by Joao and preached by Margaret. Then we headed back to Jerusalem. Of course we had to stop at the crossing. An Italian volunteer, Marie Therese, who goes regularly to Gaza went with us. She noted at the crossing that this is a "university of terrorism." Joao tried to take a photo of an old Palestinian woman who was being pushed in a wheelbarrow, but the soldiers stopped him. We really saw very little of Gaza; parts of it were under curfew because of Passover, and because of the suicide bomber the day before. What we did see left us weary and anguished about how the Palestinians are being treated in their own land.

Holy Thursday, April 17: Don arranged for us to meet with Tom Neu, director of American Near East Refugee Agency (ANERA) and his assistant, Susan Bertoni, at Orient House, the former "White House" for Yasser Arafat. Susan is responsible for development programs for women and children. They both stated strongly that they are in favor of peace and open to both Palestinians and Israelis; they denounced the gross systematic injustices done to the Palestinians. They shared the tragedy of the apartheid wall and then gave us an excellent resource, The Apartheid Wall Campaign: Stop Israel's Stranglehold of Palestine. Susan noted the need to change the constantly negative image of the Palestinian people; we talked about future collaboration with her in reconstructing this image. Joao told them about the Dominican Sisters in prison in the States and how Iraq, Palestine, Mordechai Vanunu (2) and these Sisters are all linked, giving Susan a copy of an article about these Dominican Sisters.

We visited the Ecole Biblique. The prior, Jean-Michel de Tarragon, and community were most welcoming. We appreciated the initiative on the part of Ecole Biblique, amidst much opposition, to propose that Fribourg give the Latin Patriarch, Michel Sabbah, an honorary doctorate. The friars told us about their solidarity with the Palestinian people. Here we also met Diana Safieh, a long-standing friend of the community. Her brother is the ambassador for the Palestinian Authority to England and the Holy See. Diana took us to Sabeel, the Ecumenical Liberation Theology Center, where we met with the director's secretary, who shared with us many valuable resources, such as the Jerusalem Sabeel Document (May, 2000). This center, with their excellent educational material and solidarity exposure trip, can be very helpful for any future Palestinian solidarity.

Our next stop was Ecco Homo, the Sisters of Sion's center, where Don was liturgical celebrant and preacher. Don's homily was most impressive and we commented: how could he speak so forcefully and clearly, yet so gently! We went to the garden of Ecce Homo, prayed there, and then walked down to the Church of Gethsemane. We joined the Palestinian youth of the Young Christian Workers in the procession across the Kidron Valley and visited the beautiful Church of the Gallicantu with its exquisite icons. We prayed on the steps of the Gallicantu with the background of the Palestinian youth singing Good Friday songs. We prayed for our brothers and sisters who are being betrayed, tortured, and eliminated in this land. A full day, rich in meaning and mystery.

Good Friday, April 18: We met Sergio Yahni, the Israeli soldier who forms part of the Alternative Information Center (AIC). He has been in prison four times because of his refusal to serve in the occupied territory. He elaborated on the policy of the Israeli regime of establishing an 'ethnocentric state', by which the Israeli government has to increase the number of Jews and the amount of land they have, while simultaneously getting rid of the Palestinians. Then we went with Sister Gisele to Bethlehem to visit another rosary contact, the Handals. They showed us their factory, which has been in the family for three generations and is in the basement of the house. The Handals were "bourgeois" but lost everything more than once under the different regimes that occupied Palestine. They held onto this factory, which is in great need of improvement. We also visited the rosary makers: two women, whose husbands are unemployed and one handicapped woman. Then we went home with them for a delicious meal. Like Edmund Shehadeh, Mr. Handal showed us his bag with the bullets that penetrated his house during the siege. We then returned to Bethlehem and went to the Greek Melkite Church for services--all in Arabic, with incense, processions and singing.

Holy Saturday, April 19: We worked on our diary and on possibilities for follow-up solidarity. In the midst of this, we realized how overwhelmed we were by the mystery of evil present here in Palestine. The song, "Were You There When They Crucified My Lord?" came to mind. Late that afternoon we visited the Sisters of the Presentation at Maison Abraham. Along the way, we passed the wall of a new settlement, which is uninhabited. The Sisters were impressive in their understanding of what is happening in Palestine in relation to the world. They are clear about their mission to serve in the Muslim community through a quality clinic for Arabs and a center for pilgrims; all employees are Arabs and the sisters work under Arab direction.

Then we went to Ecce Homo for the Easter Vigil. We were disappointed; the homily/liturgy/community could have been anywhere. The fact that this Easter liturgy was taking place in this devastated land without any reference being made to the plight of the Palestinian people was striking, depressing, and upsetting. When will we ever learn?

Easter Sunday, April 20: We joined in the celebration with the Jesuit community. In the evening, we went back to the military base with Don and to our surprise and joy they were packing up to go home, after four months of fearing and expecting the worst for nothing.

Monday, April 21: We went early to the airport to go through the strict security procedures and to have time to meet with Yael Lotan and Giyora Neumann, of the Committee to Free Vanunu and for a Middle East Free of Weapons of Mass Destruction. Both of them had earlier served prison sentences for their anti-nuclear stands. They told us the story of Mordechai Vanunu, who as a nuclear technician, worked at the Israeli government plant engaged in building nuclear weapons. Vanunu later denounced this in England and was abducted by the Israeli secret service in Rome and condemned in 1986 to sixteen years in prison, eleven of which he passed in solitary confinement. Joao shared with them about the three Dominicans sisters in the States who are also in prison for their anti-nuclear activity and the link between them. Yael and Giyora encouraged us to focus our attention, not only on the personal drama of Vanunu or the sisters, but on what they are really about: a world free of weapons of mass destruction! This was a fitting end for us to meet with two such Israelis. We felt we had been in communion with them all our lives.

On the plane, we realized that two women, a Palestinian and an Israeli -Samah and Yael -asked us to tell their story and to encourage solidarity.

1. Carol Gilbert, Jackie Hudson and Ardeth Platte have been in prison since the 6th of October for their protest in Colorado, USA against US weapons of mass destruction. They were condemned by a jury and will be sentenced on July 25th.
2. Mordechai Vanunu, see below April 21st.